Dad Finds Something Gross in Child’s Sippy Cup

Simon O’kanada of Quebec, Canada couldn’t figure out what was wrong with his son. He kept getting sick even when there was no flu virus going around. The government also had not issued a flu virus advisory targeting young children. He just could not make heads or tails of it.

He decided to pry open the anti-spill guard of his son’s Tommee Tippee sippy cup and, lo and behold, the inside was filled with mold.

The anti-spill guard was designed in such a way that it cannot be cleaned either by hand or by dishwasher unless you pry it open. However, parents of children using the sippy cup had no clue that such mold build-up was possible.

O’kanada reached out to the company that makes Tommy Tippee sippy cups. However, his complaint was dismissed and all he got was a laughter from the person on the other end of the line.

However, in this day and age of social media, words, and more importantly, pictures spread like wildfire. O’kanada decided to post pictures he took of the moldy sippy cup online, and soon realized that he wasn’t alone. Countless of other parents also found their children’s anti-spill guard full of mold and they are sharing their horror stories on social media.

Laura Greene of Forsyth, Missouri, after seeing pictures of the moldy Tommy Tippee sippy cup online, decided to open her 19-month-old daughter’s cup and found the inside filled with mold. Greene said she would put cold milk and water in the cup for her daughter and that she had been using it for almost a year.

Another concerned mom, Amanda Townshend, opened her son’s sippy cup and discovered it to be moldy as well. She said it took her 30 minutes to open it, using a screwdriver and a hammer.

Townshend claims that her 16-month-old son has been using Tommee Tippee cups for almost 10 months and that he always suffered from stuffy nose after using them.

“We didn’t put two and two together of the sippy cups and his health until recently,” Townshend told CNN. “He’s always had a stuffy nose after using them and just about a week or so ago he had an upper respiratory infection.”

Townshend took her son to see the doctor after her discovery to find out if the sippy cup could have caused her son’s upper respiratory infection. The doctor said it was possible, but they could not really say for certain.

According to Dr. Jennifer Shu, pediatrician and co-author of Heading Home with Your Newborn, mold doesn’t usually cause any symptoms.

“Individuals who are sensitive or allergic to mold may experience nasal congestion or wheezing,” she said. “In general, mold creates more of an ‘ick’ factor than actual illness.”

Tommee Tippee apologized to their customers on social media by issuing the following statement: “Child health and well-being is at the heart of everything we do, and we’re taking the current concerns around our Sippee cups very seriously.”

They said it will be launching a new and improved cup in the next few months. In the meantime, they made the anti-spill guards transparent so parents can see when it’s time to clean.

“We want everyone to be happy with our products and we always want to exceed expectations,” said a spokesperson for Tommee Tippee.